La Dolce Vita — Restaurant in Portimão

Don't be fooled by how busy this place is. It was what initially attracted us to go in, seeing queues out of the door whilst everything else was extremely quiet. We assumed they must be doing something right and although we are quite keen to eat local and authentic cuisine when we are away, we thought hey.. authentic Italian, what could go wrong!?

This is definitely not an authentic Italian.. or atleast not anymore. It was some of the worse food I've had in a long time and I could forgive if it was cheap but it actually wasn't.

We had garlic mushrooms to start (which btw are the same price as the mains) maybe because they are considering the portion size to equal the same value. About 50 defrosted mushrooms in a watery butter that didn't have any garlic flavouring whatsoever arrived. It also came with bread covering it which was equally strange and unnecessary.

We then proceeded to have Pizza.. we looked at a couple to our right who also had pizza and thought they didn't look the best but maybe they had just ordered strange toppings (which there are plenty on the menu).

Both of our pizza bases, seemed like something you would get from a supermarket and with no tomato paste. The vegetables on my pizza, much like the mushrooms seemed to look and taste like pre sliced frozen vegetables from a packet.

My partners pizza, one of the priciest on the menu was much worse than mine though. It was sold as "Ham, Burrata, Pistachio and Pesto". This was basically a cheap pizza base, covered in packet ham and lots of watery burratta (No pistachio or pesto in sight).

I'm not one to leave reviews but we didn't even get the opportunity to complain as we were not asked once how our food was, not even when we got the bill. We left half a pizza each so I'm suprised the waiter didn't ask us when he took our plate either, but maybe they are used to it or would prefer not to know.

I'm only writing this as I don't want others to get sucked into the trap of how busy it is and how authentic it looks... its my birthday tomorrow and all I can say is THANK GOD we didn't choose to eat here for my birthday meal. I would have been sooooo disappointed.

Please find somewhere else if you want proper Italian food...

If I could leave zero stars I would, the only thing that saved it was the sangria. We were seated at 9 having waited outside for a table for a while upon the recommendation of a local. The food looked great and everyone seemed happy so we figured it would be worth the wait. When we were seated they took our drinks order after about 10 minutes and then requested us to switch our table so they could seat a larger group, we agreed and moved. Then we waited another 15/20 minutes for our order to be taken, the starter took another 10/15 minute for a bowl of garlic mushrooms, we ate a few but couldn't stomach much more since it was a bowl of melted garlic butter with chopped mushrooms inside, very greasy, very heavy. An hour and a half after ordering still no sign of our mains and no one had come to inform us that there was a delay... We signaled the waiter and he went to check and it appeared as though our food had been forgotten about because when he brought it out a minute later the spaghetti Bolognese was cold, the pasta was dry and the sauce had almost formed a skin, the risotto was luke warm also. The waiter took them away and brought back the same dishes microwaved.... He apologized and I can't fault him personally It obviously wasn't his doing but the hot food was not good. The Bolognese was extremely salty and the spaghetti was tough, the risotto was heated to the extreme and the seafood inside tasted terrible afterwards. We hardly ate anything before asking for the bill. We waited again for a waiters attention to give the payment and get our change but he went and brought us down a tiramisu and said before we got our change to have the cake, we said no we are ok we just want our change and to go, and he insisted, neither of us ate the cake as at this point it was almost 11pm and we had lost our appetite, and we left. Over all an hour and three quarters for terrible mains. Tables around us had been served and finished and payed even though they arrived after us... No excuse, Would not recommend this place, sad to say it did not live up to our...

I came to this resteraunt with my family and friends, and i am sure that each and every one if us equally agree that this is one of, if not, the most splendid place we have ever eaten at. First of all, lets talk about the food. I got the margherita pizza, not expecting that much. However, i was utterly shocked when i placed that slice of pizza in my mouth. The moment that the cheese hit my toung i was filled with flavour and taste. This divine magestical pizza may very well be the greatest margherita pizza i have tasted in all of my life. The price is reasonable as well, being 9.5 euros. The Tagliatelle del contadino was also very very delightful. This was a dish that two of the people that dined with me this evening got that dish. Both of them found it extraordinary. Saying that it is one of the too five foods they have ever eaten. Now, moving on to the service. The service and friendliness of the staff was very nice. They made jokes and talked to us very politely. The food also came quickly to our table, which is a big gamechanger for many resteraunts. Now, finally, the atmosphere. The atmosphere of this place was very nice, with cool decorations on all angles and sides of the place. Paintings, money from different countries, pictures, plants, and even some wooden props like paddles and boat steering wheels. In conclusion, this is defineh a place that is worth the visit if you are staying or passing by this area. -Felipe Rosado...